Please see the IMPORTANT NOTE - at the bottom of this post.
Still on the theme of preparedness, readiness and low cost power outage lights -
I like the idea of useful brightness with L-O-N-G runtimes.
Enter
The Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH) ...
But let me back up a step or so -
I was recently taking stock of my floating lanterns -
you know those things with the big 6V lantern batteries
and my most recent one was about 4 years ago -
this is the only LED lantern I had Eveready 5109L - 3 Nichia LEDs -
25 lumens and 65 hours runtime on the supplied "Super Heavy Duty" carbon zinc 6V lantern battery (ANSI FL-1 rating)
So I looked for better brightness and longer runtimes -
and as expected, the 5109L was upgraded to 50 lumens and 65 hours using the same 6V lantern battery.
Then I thought about those 6V lantern batteries -
yes, there are alkaline that last twice as long -
but they are just not compatible with any other lights/things I have -
thoughts went to 4D to lantern adapters - yes! RayOVac made one -
but now discontinued and those and any others available seem to be very expensive...
My eyes wandered over other lights in the search listings for the Eveready Floating lantern -
and came across this ReadyFlex - it looked like a regular lantern - so why was it called "Flex"?
Looking at the details - revealed why....
it runs on 2 or 4 D-cells!
D to lantern adapters aren't needed.
and the whole light with 2 D batteries was $5 (actually $4.47 at my local Lowes).
So I had to have one!
Eveready doesn't even have it on its website -
I found the official pdf data sheet on Digi-Key,
relevant crop below -
50 lumens, 80 hours on 2 supplied "Super Heavy Duty" carbon zinc -
ie: same brightness but longer rated runtime than the version using a 6V lantern battery!
On 4D cz the runtime is rated at 160 hours -
so the D pairs are in parallel -
4x alkaline gets a 350 hours rating.
Size -
left - ReadyFlex, right - 5109L 3 LED lantern
left - Eveready 1D; right - ReadyFlex
Heads -
left - ReadyFlex, right - 5109L 3 LED lantern
left - ReadyFlex; right - Eveready 1D
The reflector of the ReadyFlex does not actually extend all the way to the retaining bezel -
there is only what I would term decorative (non-functional) silvered surround to the physical reflector.
So the head need not be so big - but perhaps the size is to make battery access easier?
(they never considered that for the 6V lantern battery versions -
especially those older incandescent models that required wire attachments!)
Side-by-side Comparison beamshots -
vs Eveready Floating Lantern 5109L (circa 2012) - both on supplied carbon zinc
The 3 Nichia LED 5190L lantern side-spill shows the effects of using 3 discrete LEDS -
the lens actually is lightly textured to diffuse to try to smooth out the beam - but it is still pretty obvious.
vs. Eveready 1D (link to review), both on supplied carbon zinc D cells
I am currently very taken with the very economical Eveready 1D (link to review) getting a rating of 25 lumens, 60 hours on a single supplied carbon zinc,
and the beam profile to me is much more suitable for indoors usage - especially for power outages.
But I like this ReadyFlex lantern for its "Flex"ibility.
>>>EDIT to ADD<<< -
IMPORTANT NOTE -
Things may not be quite as positive - even though this ReadyFlex has ANSI/NEMA FL-1 rating of 50 lumens with 80 hours run time.
This light is more than likely to be direct drive since it is cheap and using 2D in series (carbon zinc batteries will give ~3.2V) - any sag in voltage and the light will dim -
please see beamshots in Post #20 below.
Other lanterns using the venerable 6V lantern battery are unlikely to suffer quite as dramatically as this - since 6V is way above the Vf and even if the carbon zinc chemistry sags - it will remain significantly higher than the Vf.
Whereas this ReadyFlex is dependent on 2D cells in series and direct drive, any sag will significantly affect its output/brightness - even if it manages to cripple along at the noticeably lower brightness to the ANSI FL-1 rated 80hours.
So although the design is "clever", unfortunately it is also its biggest weakness.
My thanks to xxo for highlighting this.
Still on the theme of preparedness, readiness and low cost power outage lights -
I like the idea of useful brightness with L-O-N-G runtimes.
Enter
The Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH) ...
But let me back up a step or so -
I was recently taking stock of my floating lanterns -
you know those things with the big 6V lantern batteries
and my most recent one was about 4 years ago -
this is the only LED lantern I had Eveready 5109L - 3 Nichia LEDs -
25 lumens and 65 hours runtime on the supplied "Super Heavy Duty" carbon zinc 6V lantern battery (ANSI FL-1 rating)
So I looked for better brightness and longer runtimes -
and as expected, the 5109L was upgraded to 50 lumens and 65 hours using the same 6V lantern battery.
Then I thought about those 6V lantern batteries -
yes, there are alkaline that last twice as long -
but they are just not compatible with any other lights/things I have -
thoughts went to 4D to lantern adapters - yes! RayOVac made one -
but now discontinued and those and any others available seem to be very expensive...
My eyes wandered over other lights in the search listings for the Eveready Floating lantern -
and came across this ReadyFlex - it looked like a regular lantern - so why was it called "Flex"?
Looking at the details - revealed why....
it runs on 2 or 4 D-cells!
D to lantern adapters aren't needed.
and the whole light with 2 D batteries was $5 (actually $4.47 at my local Lowes).
So I had to have one!
Eveready doesn't even have it on its website -
I found the official pdf data sheet on Digi-Key,
relevant crop below -
50 lumens, 80 hours on 2 supplied "Super Heavy Duty" carbon zinc -
ie: same brightness but longer rated runtime than the version using a 6V lantern battery!
On 4D cz the runtime is rated at 160 hours -
so the D pairs are in parallel -
4x alkaline gets a 350 hours rating.
Size -
left - ReadyFlex, right - 5109L 3 LED lantern
left - Eveready 1D; right - ReadyFlex
Heads -
left - ReadyFlex, right - 5109L 3 LED lantern
left - ReadyFlex; right - Eveready 1D
The reflector of the ReadyFlex does not actually extend all the way to the retaining bezel -
there is only what I would term decorative (non-functional) silvered surround to the physical reflector.
So the head need not be so big - but perhaps the size is to make battery access easier?
(they never considered that for the 6V lantern battery versions -
especially those older incandescent models that required wire attachments!)
Side-by-side Comparison beamshots -
vs Eveready Floating Lantern 5109L (circa 2012) - both on supplied carbon zinc
The 3 Nichia LED 5190L lantern side-spill shows the effects of using 3 discrete LEDS -
the lens actually is lightly textured to diffuse to try to smooth out the beam - but it is still pretty obvious.
vs. Eveready 1D (link to review), both on supplied carbon zinc D cells
I am currently very taken with the very economical Eveready 1D (link to review) getting a rating of 25 lumens, 60 hours on a single supplied carbon zinc,
and the beam profile to me is much more suitable for indoors usage - especially for power outages.
But I like this ReadyFlex lantern for its "Flex"ibility.
>>>EDIT to ADD<<< -
IMPORTANT NOTE -
Things may not be quite as positive - even though this ReadyFlex has ANSI/NEMA FL-1 rating of 50 lumens with 80 hours run time.
This light is more than likely to be direct drive since it is cheap and using 2D in series (carbon zinc batteries will give ~3.2V) - any sag in voltage and the light will dim -
please see beamshots in Post #20 below.
Other lanterns using the venerable 6V lantern battery are unlikely to suffer quite as dramatically as this - since 6V is way above the Vf and even if the carbon zinc chemistry sags - it will remain significantly higher than the Vf.
Whereas this ReadyFlex is dependent on 2D cells in series and direct drive, any sag will significantly affect its output/brightness - even if it manages to cripple along at the noticeably lower brightness to the ANSI FL-1 rated 80hours.
So although the design is "clever", unfortunately it is also its biggest weakness.
My thanks to xxo for highlighting this.
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